Kevin and The Cat Doctor Part 4

Hello, I’m Dr. Jane Matheys with The Cat Doctor Veterinary Hospital and Hotel in Boise, Idaho. I’ll be answering some questions today from the Facebook page of Pets Best Insurance.

We are continuing our saga entitled “Kevin and the Cat Doctor”. Kevin’s question today is, “My cat keeps trying to eat my plants. Where can I get that grass that’s safe to eat and won’t cost me an arm and a leg to keep restocking?”

Some kitties really do like to chew on greens. We want to keep them away from lawn grass because most often that’s going to make them vomit. The grass that I recommend is just good old wheat grass. You can get this pre-grown from many stores. It’s typically organic, to stay away from pesticides. That’s really the easiest thing to do. If you’re concerned about cost, check your pet stores because they also have little packs that you can grow. Probably the most economical is to start from scratch and actually plant your own natural catnip or other grasses for your kitties to chew on.

The second question from Kevin today is, “How can I tell if my cat has a fever?”

A cat’s normal body temperature is a few degrees warmer than ours so the kitty is always going to feel a little bit warm to us, so that’s not a good way to tell. The only true way to tell is by taking the cat’s temperature. Unfortunately, the most common way to do that is with the rectal thermometer. Cats don’t appreciate it very much, but again, that will tell us for sure whether your kitty is running a fever and has a problem.

And finally from Kevin, “Cats seem to naturally know to use the litter box but can they be taught to hack up their hairballs onto an appropriate surface?”

That’s a good one, Kevin. I know exactly what you mean. I have a vomiter at home and she immediately heads for either the carpeting or a piece of furniture. I’ll tell you what. If you can figure out a way to train them to head for the linoleum, let me know. I could make a fortune on it. Thanks for your questions.www.petsbest.com